2 from SA die in chopper crash
2003-06-27 17:12
Windhoek - Four people, including two South Africans, were killed in Namibia on Thursday evening when an SOS medical rescue aircraft leaving the scene of a traffic accident crashed into a mountain.
The regional medical director for SOS International, Fraser Lamond, told Sapa on Friday that another two South Africans - Najmonesa Gaffoor and Arlene de Bruin - were killed in the traffic accident.
A third South African - Charmaine Williams - was initially injured in the accident, which occurred about 170km
outside Windhoek on the Gamsberg Pass Road. The vehicle rolled after leaving the road.
An SOS air ambulance was called to evacuate Williams from the scene.
Shortly after the evacuation, the aircraft slammed into the side of a nearby mountain killing all four people on board, including Namibian pilot Jon Branca, 47, South African paramedic Marcel Naudé, Namibian medical assistant Daria Smith and Williams.
Lamond said the cause of the plane crash was still unknown and that Namibian Civil Aviation Authority officials were at the scene investigating.
- SAPA